1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of vehicle child seats integrated into a vehicle passenger seat or separate therefrom and more specifically a child seat having a connecting device to removably secure the seat harness webs together.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A child restraint system may be built into a vehicle passenger seat or may be included within a child seat restable upon the vehicle seat. A variety of different types of harness systems are available such as disclosed in the commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,286,090 and 5,031,962. Typically, the restraint system includes a pair of webs extendable downwardly over the shoulders and against the chest of the child to a pair of tongues or a single tongue, in turn, lockingly engaged with a buckle secured to the seat. In order to position the webs together across the child's chest, quick disconnect connectors are utilized such as shown in the commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,946.
In my co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/623,695; filed Apr. 15, 1996, I disclose a pair of web socks attached to mating quick disconnect connectors for securing the webs together. The combined multi-sock and web connector thereby reduces the number of steps required to adjust the harness to the particular child. Likewise, such combination is desirable to more securely hold the socks and connector at the desired location along the length of the webs while at the same time ensuring that at least a portion of each web is parallel to each other thereby positioning the webs accurately across the child's chest.
In lieu of utilizing the web sock design, I have disclosed herein a pair of mating quick disconnect connectors designed to limit relative motion between one of the connectors and the associated web when the connectors are locked together thereby also limiting relative motion between the webs.